Press Release

For Release: May 24, 2000
Contact: David Almasi at (202) 507-6398 x106
John Carlisle at (202) 507-6398
or [email protected]

Orioles Baseball Team Warned Not to Discriminate

African-American Network Asks Owner Angelos
to Consider Afro-Cubans

Recent statements by officials of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team
in which they orginially said - but later retracted - that they would not
sign Cuban defectors to play for the team concerns members of the African-American
leadership network Project 21. Project 21 members cite the discriminatory
nature of Angelos's initial actions, and the particularly strong effects
it would have on Afro-Cubans in Major League Baseball.

Orioles Vice President Syd Thrift told The Washington Times last week
that the team would not sign Cuban defectors. The team did pass on meeting
with available Cuban players. Thrift now calls his statement a "concept"
rather than a policy and that the team would consider signing Cuban players.
Angelos said he "would not solicit or encourage anyone to defect -
rather we would discourage that."

"I call upon Mr. Angelos to make it clear that he is not pursuing
racist employment practices," said Project 21 member Kevin Martin,
a native of the Baltimore-Washington area. "Those Cubans who chose
to defect did so at great risk to themselves and those they left behind
in Cuba. Should they be banned because of their heritage, it erects yet
another roadblock to their progress. In Cuba, blacks have little to no voice
in the government and must turn to sports as a means of getting ahead. Afro-Cubans
who have risked their lives to be here deserve the equal opportunity to
play on Mr. Angelos's or anyone else's team."

According to labor law experts, should Angelos intentionally not hire
Cubans to play for the Orioles, it would be a violation of at least two
laws. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars discrimination in hiring
on the basis of national origin. The Immigration Reform and Control Act
of 1986 similarly bars employment discrimination against resident aliens
on the basis of nationality and citizenship. Former Justice Department official
Roger Clegg told The Washington Times that the signing of other Caribbean
players, which the Orioles have done, while snubbing their Cuban counterparts
could itself be considered a violation of the law.

So far, the Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP) has been silent on Angelos's actions. In 1999,
however, the NAACP called for a boycott of the businesses of Detroit Tigers
baseball team owner Mike Illitch because the group did not believe Illitch
made enough of an effort to interview black candidates for an opening for
team manager.

In 1999, Angelos received a special wavier from the Clinton Administration
to take the Orioles to Cuba for a game against Cuba's national team, and
hosted the Cuban team for a game in Baltimore, Maryland as part of the Clinton
Administration's attempts to normalize relations with the communist dictatorship
of Fidel Castro. Angelos is a major donor to the Democratic National Committee
and Democratic candidates.